I knew that buying things on eBay was addictive. (Particularly when it recently occurred to me that it was a potential source for Norwegian language books.) There is something thrilling about finding some weird, obscure item that you can't do without and beating some other bidder to the punch in the last 10 minutes. And then it shows up at your doorstep.

I had also heard that selling things on eBay is addictive, and now I find that it is true--even more exciting than buying things! I posted a boxed set of books (signed, limited edition, still in plastic) by a particular author from about 14 years ago. I recently saw a similar set sans plastic go for $113, so I thought I could do well with my set.

Man, is it ever exciting! You can see how many people have your item on "watched" status, and I saw it go from 0 to 13 in the first two days. Now the auction end is still two days away and it's already up to $130!

I felt bad at first, when it was clear that the bidders were trying to figure out how much my reserve was. I felt like I was cruelly holding out a piece of delicious cheese that was too high to jump up and grab. But once someone got past the reserve price ($120), it was all thrill, baby. Now they're only competing with one another, not with my invisible reserve.

And someone is already watching the green cape I just posted this morning.

Now, down to the basement to take photos of those old oscilloscopes I salvaged from the Psych department cleanout!